


Seeing Voices

by Ceroji



Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Chromesthesia, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, Meeting the Crew, Mild Language, Nakamaship, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 02:31:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9102577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceroji/pseuds/Ceroji
Summary: Luffy has chromesthesia, which allows him to see voices and sounds as colors. This, however, influenced how he chose his crew and why he was so persistent on getting each member to join. (On hiatus because writer's block)





	1. Flaming Ace and Sabo

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic so if you have any advice or general comments please feel free to say them! I'm not an expert on chromesthesia so if there is anything wrong or offensive with how I wrote about it let me know so I can fix it. Also, I want to give a shout out and thank you to my one and only Breezey for inspiring me to write this!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece (But I do love it!)

Luffy sat at Makino's bar, clutching the precious straw hat Shanks gave him to his chest. Gramps was supposed to show up today but he was late. Luffy became lost in his thoughts, wondering where Gramps was going to take him, when he noticed a dark green color fill his vision. It was gentle, much like the voice of the person it belonged to.

 

"Luffy! Garp is here! He said that he would wait for you outside," Makino called as she entered her bar. Luffy looked up and stared at her with a mixture of fear and eagerness. He was finally going to be able to go to the secret hideout that Gramps was talking about recently, but whenever he was here it meant the Fist of Love wasn't very far behind. Jumping off the stool he was sitting on, the rubber boy pushed his hat back to its usual position on his head and ran out the door to be greeted by the site of his grandfather. After being hit by the predicted Fist of Love, they headed for the mountains. As they reached their destination, he noticed a small house. Gramps walked up and banged on the door, giving Luffy the perfect opportunity to run off and explore. He saw a blur as the colors of many voices mixed together, but didn't bother to separate them as he ran around the house. _Running and exploring this secret hideout is way more interesting than focusing on whoever Gramps is talking to!_ He felt himself being lifted by the back of his shirt while he was running circles around Gramps.

 

"Hey, Luffy, introduce yourself," Gramps instructed. Luffy stared at the three new faces in front of him for a second before giving them a simple, if slightly rude, greeting. Gramps put him down and continued to talk to new people. _These new guys are loud and watching them all talk is boring._ He noticed a dragonfly and began to chase it into the forest, until something wet landed on his cheek.

 

"What's this?" Luffy reached up and touched his cheek, only to pull his hand away. "Ugh, spit! Gross! Who did that!" Luffy looked around for the culprit, only to find a slightly older boy sitting on top of an animal. "Apologize! That was gross!"

 

The boy didn't respond. _What is wrong with him? He's just sitting there and glaring at me!_ Luffy was getting angrier as the mysterious boy refused to say anything. After a few moments, Gramps walked over and introduced the two.

 

"Luffy, this is Ace. He's three years older than you. You're going to live with him and the others from now on." Luffy barley listened as Gramps talked, instead deciding to focus on growling at the newly named 'Ace'. His concentration was broken when Gramps hit him on the back of his head. Luffy resorted to glaring at Ace as the boy jumped off the dead animal and walked past him. He followed Ace into the house but lost sight of him once he got inside. _These people are bandits? Ever since the incident when that lame bandit was rude to Shanks I've hated them! As long as I can hunt for my own food I'll be fine. I don't need to hang out with these guys anyways!_ Ace walked out of the house after he finished eating, with Luffy following after him.

 

“I’m Luffy! I’m not mad about you spitting on me anymore! Let’s be friends! Wait where are you going?” Luffy yelled to the older boy as they made their way through the forest. Without warning, Ace pushed him off the bridge. Luffy screamed as he fell, barely avoiding the river that would drain him of his strength and wash him away. “That was rude! I just wanted to be friends with him…” Luffy dusted himself off and began to walk back to where he thought the bandit’s house was. _There's something strange about Ace... He seems darker than anyone I've seen before._ Shrugging it off, he realized he made it back to the house.

 

Luffy spent weeks chasing Ace through the forest, avoiding deadly situations every day. Finally, he managed to catch up to Ace, who was talking to someone about pirates on top of a tree branch. That was the first time Luffy heard Ace talk, and the first time he saw the color of his voice. It was mostly red, but the red mixed with some orange and yellow. The colors constantly swirled together and around one another, having an appearance similar to flames. Luffy had never seen anything like it. The unique color wasn’t what stood out the most, though. Ace sounded happy as he spoke to the other boy about buying a pirate ship, but his flame themed voice was dark. It looked cold and heavy, practically black but just light enough to see its true colors. Luffy shivered a little before he noticed the color of the other boy's voice.

 

The mysterious kid next to Ace was wearing a top hat with goggles, and his voice was almost as surprising as Ace’s. Like Ace, his voice resembled flames. It seemed like it would normally be a mixture of blue and white, but now it was almost completely black. Luffy was used to seeing sounds and voices as colors, but in all the time he spent in Foosha village he had never seen voices as dark as Ace and his friend’s. _Even Shanks’ voice is a lighter color than theirs and he's an actual pirate!_ Summing the dark colors up as a mystery, the seven year old called out to the pair in the tree.

 

“You guys wanna be pirates too? Let’s be friends!” The two boys looked at each other and rushed down the tree.

 

“Why would we want to be around someone like you? Hey, Ace, what should we do with him? If he tells anyone about our stash we’re gonna be ruined,” The boy in blue muttered.

 

“We’ll kill him,” Ace stated as his voice became even darker than before. The other boy nodded. Luffy looked at them in horror. They weren’t kidding. Their voices didn’t even have a shred of light in them now and they were steady, showing their conviction.

 

“Don’t kill me! I don’t wanna die!” Luffy screamed as tears streamed down his face. _I made a promise to Shanks that I'd become a great pirate! I can’t die now!_  When he tried to run, the blue flame themed boy slammed him into the ground.

 

“Just kill him Sabo!” Ace yelled. His voice didn’t have the same steady appearance it did moments ago. It was wavering and jumpy, like he was panicked, but still just as dark.

 

“No way! You do it! You’re the one he followed to get here!” Sabo replied, his voice matching Ace’s in panic. They argued over who was going to be the one to do the act, when some pirates overheard the noise and began to approach the group. “Wait. Do you see them? They’re members of the Bluejam pirates! Porchemy is leading them! He’s merciless and would kill us in a heartbeat! We gotta hide!” Luffy barely registered the way Ace and Sabo’s voices changed from almost completely black to a little more colored when he was lifted off the ground.

 

“Oi. Who are you?” Porchemy asked as he pulled Luffy closer to his face. His voice was gray. It didn’t have the same heaviness that Ace and Sabo had but it felt just as cold.

 

“Ace! Help me!” Luffy cried as he struggled to escape from the man’s grasp. Porchemy stared at him curiously.

 

“You know Ace? Well now, I guess it wasn’t a waste that we found you! Where did he hide the money he stole?”

 

“I don’t know Ace…Or where he hid the treasure!” Luffy exclaimed as he put on his best poker face. Of course, his best poker face included him looking to the side and whistling. Porchemy shook him and tried to get him to reveal the information. “I’ll never tell you!”

 

“Fine,” Porchemy sighed. “If you refuse to tell me, I suppose I’ll just have to resort to other means.” He left the clearing with Luffy in hand and headed for an abandoned shack in the Gray Terminal.

 

“Ace! He took Luffy! What are we supposed to do?” Sabo whispered, careful to not let the pirates overhear him.

 

“We move our treasure. Luffy’s a blabbermouth and he’s bound to tell them where it is soon. We just have to hope he won’t spill until we’ve moved everything.” Sabo agreed and the two began to move their stolen treasure to a new location. After they finished, they went back to the clearing to see if Porchemy and his men made a move.

“It’s been a couple hours. Why haven’t they shown up yet?” Sabo wondered aloud. They began to get worried. “You don’t think Luffy hasn’t said anything... Right?”

 

“No way! Why would he keep it a secret? He can’t be that stupid!” They looked at each other as Luffy’s smiling and carefree face flashed across their minds. Seconds later they were armed with pipes and well on their way to the Gray Terminal.

 

The pair finally found the area where Porchemy was, since it was the only area that most people avoided. They went up to the window and peeked inside only to gasp in fear when they saw him remove bloodied, spiked gloves and pick up his sword. He walked back over to the other side of the room where something was hanging from the ceiling by a rope.

 

“That’s Luffy! He’s covered in blood…” Sabo trailed off as he looked at the numerous puncture wounds covering Luffy’s small body.

 

“You’re really not going to tell us where those brats hid the money are you?” Porchemy questioned Luffy as the boy shook his head. His glare intensified with the unsatisfactory answer. “Then die.” Luffy froze for a second, seeing the color of Porchemy’s voice as a steely gray.  _I'm_ _going to die here. At least Ace and Sabo won't be mad at me for giving away where they hid their treasure._ Then, the window broke as two bodies flew into the room.

 

“Ace! Sabo!” Luffy cried as the pair stood in front of him, ready to fight the pirate. Sabo cut him free from the rope and then helped Ace deal with the remaining members of the Bluejam Pirates. It was dark by the time all three boys made it back to the forest and away from danger.

 

“What were you thinking?” Ace practically screamed at Luffy. He wasn’t nearly as angry or panicked as he was earlier in the day, but his voice was just as dark as it was when Luffy had first heard it. “Why didn’t you just tell them where we hid the treasure?”

 

“If I told them…then you guys wouldn’t want to be my friends,” Luffy mumbled.

 

“So what if we weren’t your friends? That’s better than being dead!”

 

“No!” Standing up, Luffy looked serious for the first time since Ace and Sabo had met him. The other boys looked at him in shock. “Being lonely is more painful than getting hurt! I can’t go back to Foosha Village and I can’t trust the bandits! You guys are the only other people here. I don’t want to be alone!” Ace stared at the ground.

 

“Are you saying that you want me around? That you don’t want me to die?” His voice became dark again, like it did when he was threatening to kill Luffy. It wasn’t the light, swirling flames that gave way to the unique combination of red, orange, and yellow that was present a moment before.

 

“Of course not!” Luffy was confused.  _I_ _just said that I wanted to be friends with Ace, right? Why is his voice dark again? What does it mean when voices become dark colors like this?  
_

 

“Why?” The question was simple. It was a one-word question whose answer would make or break Ace.

 

“Why? I don’t like it when your voices are dark colors. It’s fun to be around you guys!” Luffy smiled at the boys in front of him.

 

“Our voices are dark colors? What do you mean?” Sabo asked, ignoring the small blush on Ace’s face after hearing the genuine compliment from the youngest boy. Luffy looked at him like he had three heads.

 

“When you talk your voice looks like blue and white flames. Ace’s is red, orange, and yellow. Sometimes, though, it’s really dark. Almost black. Right now it’s lighter though! Haven’t you guys noticed?” Ace and Sabo looked at each other and shook their heads.

 

“Luffy…I think that’s something only you can see…” Sabo tried to explain.

 

“Eh? Really?” Luffy waited for confirming nods from both boys before continuing. “I never told Gramps or Makino about it but I thought everyone could see it. Oh well!” Ace and Sabo tried to get more details out of Luffy before realizing it was futile to ask the boy anymore. They decided it would be best for Sabo to live with them and the bandits while the Bluejam pirates were still on the lookout for them.

 

After a while, the three boys became brothers over sake and spent every moment together. Their voices lost their dark, heavy, and cold qualities as time passed and they became closer. Sabo’s voice became truly bright when he revealed his origins as a noble’s son. It was vibrant and fierce, reflecting how much weight was lifted off of him. He was worried that it would change how Ace and Luffy saw him, but was able to relax once they said that they didn’t really care. He was their brother no matter what, and something as simple as being born a noble wouldn't be enough to change that.

Ace took a little longer to have a brightly colored voice. It wasn’t as dark once Luffy and Sabo both found out that he was Gol D. Roger’s son, but it wasn’t nearly as bright as it could be. It had darkened after Sabo's death, but lit up when he read the letter Sabo sent to him and Luffy. He was the only one who could protect their younger brother now, and he didn’t have time to dwell on the past. Ace took his responsibility as the only older brother seriously, and worked on ways to thank Shanks for saving his brother's life. As he focused on the future, Ace's voice became more spirited. It appeared like actual flames, intense, bold, and ready to protect.

 

It took a few days for Luffy to mention the change of color to Ace. He had noticed, but kept getting distracted by all the exciting sparring and hunting the brothers did together.

 

“Your voice is like a bright flame now. It’s not dark anymore.” Luffy casually stated during one of his spars against his older brother. Ace stopped.

 

“It’s not? I guess that’s good but I wonder why?” Both boys shrugged and continued their match, not wanting to focus on something that was seemingly unimportant. Neither of them realized, though, how much Luffy’s ability to see voices as colors would affect his crew selection.


	2. Green Zoro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Zoro was always meant to be the first member of the Straw Hat Pirates, but seeing his voice helped Luffy make the decision that much faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would still highly appreciate any and all advice or comments! I hope you enjoy the second chapter and have a happy new year!

“For the last time Luffy! You really shouldn’t ask Zoro to join your crew. He’s a pirate hunter, not a pirate!” Coby had been trying to convince Luffy to avoid seeking out the man who was recently captured by the navy, but it wasn’t easy to persuade someone as stubborn as the rubber man. Coby’s voice was a weak, light pink. _It’s probably so weak from spending so much time on Alvida’s crew… She must have damaged his self-confidence a lot during those two years._

 

“I haven’t decided to ask him yet! I’ll only ask him if he’s a good guy!” Luffy exclaimed. Coby sighed in exasperation.

 

“He’s not a good person. That’s why he’s locked up… You’re not listening are you?” Instead of paying attention to the advice his new friend was trying to give him, Luffy had turned around on the bow of their small boat to look out over the sea in front of them. Coby shook his head, deciding to give up for now. The pair sat in silence for a while, simply enjoying the waves gently rocking them. Coby closed his eyes, almost falling asleep, when the boat started to violently rock. “What’s happening?” Coby nearly jumped out of the boat, startled by the sudden shifting of the waves.

 

“I see an island! Coby there’s an island! Is that the one with Zoro and the Marine base? I’m so excited!” Luffy was practically capsizing the boat by bouncing up and down on the bow. Coby relaxed a little before nodding. Once he grabbed the oars, Luffy began to row towards the island. _I might be able to find my first crew member here!_ The island was little more than a small town surrounding the Marine base that stood prominently in the center, but it marked the start of the roads towards their goals.

 

The boys docked and walked into the town. A loud grumble was heard, followed by a familiar ‘shishishi’. Luffy apologized, without really sounding sorry, and the pair began to search for a restaurant. Finding one was a simple task. As expected of the rubber man, when they arrived at the place he ordered a lot of meat.

 

“So, where is that Zoro guy supposed to be again?” Luffy asked. Without warning, all of the townspeople in the restaurant jumped out of their seats and panicked, muttering about the scary pirate hunter. _Their voices are all jumbled together but they all look wavy? Maybe Zoro isn’t a good guy after all…_

 

“Ah! Maybe we shouldn’t talk about him where others can hear us,” Coby whispered. Luffy nodded and accepted the change in topic. “I hope I’m able to join the Marines here. I heard that Captain Morgan is at this base.” The townspeople reacted the same way they had when they heard Zoro’s name. _Their voices are more wavy than before? How could a Marine captain make them panicked? Are they afraid of him or something? What a weird town._

 

Luffy noticed that Coby looked worried when they left the restaurant. It only took a minute to reach the Marine base. He glanced at Coby when he noticed that the pink haired boy hadn’t moved.

 

“What are you waiting for? I thought you came here to join the Marines?”

 

“I-I did but… something doesn’t seem right about this town. I mean, why would those who the Marines protect be scared of them? You saw the way they reacted when we said Captain Morgan’s name! I don’t know what exactly is wrong but something seems very- Luffy what are you doing!”

 

During Coby’s rambling, Luffy had scaled the wall surrounding the base to get a better look at the open yard right behind the wall. He held his hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun’s glare. After swiveling his head a little to look around the yard, his gaze settled on the post in the center.

 

“There’s somebody in here! Is that Zoro?” He called as Coby began to climb up next to him. Coby was very hesitant and peaked just over the wall.

 

Coby took a glance at the man tied to the post before his heart nearly stopped. He looked exactly like the wanted posters. Everything from the green hair to his intense glare. After staring for a second, Coby lost his grip and tumbled backwards off of the wall and onto the ground beneath them.

 

“T-T-That’s him! That blank bandanna and green haramaki he’s wearing... It must be Roronoa Zoro! He looks so intimidating!” Coby’s voice began to waver, showing his nervousness. Sparing a glance at the scared, pink haired form on the ground, Luffy got ready to jump over the wall. “Eh? Luffy? You can’t go in there!” The sudden outburst was heard by the pirate hunter who looked up to see who was watching him.

 

Before Luffy could go into the yard, a ladder landed next to his head. A small girl carrying something wrapped in cloth climbed the ladder and jumped down. The girl glanced toward the base, then rushed over to the pirate hunter tied to the posts. Zoro glared at the girl as she approached him.

 

“What do you want? Get lost before those Marines come back and kill you.” Zoro growled at the girl. Luffy blinked in surprise. Zoro’s voice was green, the same color as tree leaves in the summer. It was slightly dark, yet also looked very weak. The most shocking aspect though, was the way his voice slightly wavered despite his cold and calm demeanor. _He’s afraid of something? Is he worried about that girl? Everyone seems to be afraid of him though...  
_

 

“But I made these rice balls for you! You haven’t eaten in nine days. This was my first time making them so I hope you like them,” The girl started to say when Zoro interrupted. _So his voice looks weak because he’s hungry? In any case, her voice looks steady. Everyone in this town is scared of him except for this girl. Weird. If Zoro really isn't a bad guy he'd be a great first crew member!  
_

 

“I don’t need your food! Now get lost before I beat you!” Zoro’s glare intensified as he barked at the girl, yet his voice was wavering more than before. There wasn’t any time to think about it since a blonde man with a bowl haircut walked into the yard.

 

“You shouldn’t be so mean to little girls, pirate hunter,” The man stated as he sauntered closer to Zoro.

 

“I don’t wanna hear that from a hypocrite like you who lives off of his father’s power and wealth.” The blonde ignored Zoro’s comment and stood in front of the girl.

 

“Are these for me? How sweet of you.” He grabbed one of the rice balls and took a bite. Making a disgusted face, the blonde spit the food out. “Why on earth would you use sugar? These are inedible!”

 

The man threw the rest of the rice balls down and pressed them into the dirt with his foot. Even as the girl cried, he continued to destroy her hard work. As he laughed, he pointed at one of the marines who stood behind him.

 

“Hey you. Throw this girl out. I’m kind enough to not kill her on the spot.” He had a conceited laugh as he walked back towards the base. The marine’s face showed his confliction while he hesitated to move from where he was standing.

 

“I’m sorry. If I don’t follow Helmeppo’s order, Captain Morgan will kill me and my family. I’m so sorry.” The marine grabbed the girl and threw the over the wall, closing his eyes while turning around. The guilt was evident in his voice as it became slightly darker than before.

 

With quick thinking, Luffy jumped off of the wall and managed to catch the girl as she flew over him. Coby began to comfort her as Luffy climbed into the yard and walked over to Zoro. The green haired teen looked up.

 

“You’re still here? They won’t be as lenient with you as they were with that girl. If you don’t leave soon you’ll be killed,” Zoro explained with a small shake of his head. Luffy stared at him, thinking about what his voice revealed about his personality.  _It's decided. I'm definitely going to ask Zoro to join me. I just hope he doesn't refuse._ “What are you here for anyways?”

 

“I’m here to look for members for my pirate crew.”

 

“You’re a pirate? As if I would lower myself to that level! I’ve already got a goal. As long as I survive here without food for a month then they’ll set me free.” As much as Luffy didn’t believe the statement, Zoro’s voice was a steady green. Luffy shrugged and turned to leave when Zoro called out to him. “Wait. Before you leave can you feed me that?”

 

“Are you sure? It’s more dirt than rice after being stepped on…” Luffy eyed the ‘rice ball’ suspiciously. _He can’t be serious right? This would be disgusting to eat._

 

“Hurry up!” Shrugging, Luffy helped Zoro eat the ‘rice ball’. He coughed a couple times, but was eventually able to swallow it all. “Tell that girl… That it was delicious.” With an enormous smile, Luffy nodded.

 

Rika was elated to hear that Zoro had eaten her rice ball. Coby had questioned why he was tied up if the pirate hunter was willing to eat dirt to please a child. Rika frowned and began to explain. She told the pirate and future marine that Zoro had injured Helmeppo’s pet in order to protect her. When he hurt the animal, though, Helmeppo war furious and demanded that he be arrested.

 

“I can’t believe that stupid pirate hunter is really trying to go a month without food! He’s going to be executed in three days!” Helmeppo laughed as he walked around town. _Three days? That’s not right. Zoro hasn’t been tied up that long!_

 

“Hey! What do you mean ‘three days’? You promised that he’d be released in a month!” Luffy angrily replied.

 

“As if I care about a deal I made with that guy. I’m the son of the great Captain Morgan! I don’t need to keep an idiotic promise like that.” Before Helmeppo could laugh again, Luffy punched him square in the face. He went flying backwards from the power of the hit. Coby tried to restrain Luffy from injuring the marine captain’s son anymore.

 

The voices of the townspeople who gathered around were mixing together and wavering as they yelled about how Captain Morgan was going to kill the teen with the straw hat. Eventually, the marines managed to carry Helmeppo away. Luffy huffed as he turned to walk back to the marine base. He vaulted over the wall to stand in front of Zoro who gave him a look of confusion.

 

“I’m not joining your crew you know,” Zoro stated clearly.

 

“I’m Luffy! If I untie you then you can come with me,” Luffy exclaimed. Zoro groaned and slammed his head back into the post he was tied to.

 

“Are you even listening to me? Look. I already told you I have my own goal. It’s got nothing to do with being a pirate so leave me alone already. I only have a few more weeks left before I’m released anyways.” Luffy stared at the pirate hunter in front of him as he studied his voice. _He believes that doesn’t he? His voice looks so clear and steady. He doesn’t know that he’s going to be executed soon. Okay. I’m gonna make Zoro join my crew. Even if he doesn't really want to I’m not gonna let someone with conviction that strong be executed for protecting someone else._

 

“You use swords right? They’re probably pretty important to you. If I get them back for you then you’ll have to join my crew!” Luffy turned around without waiting to hear a response and stretched his arms to grab onto one of the windows of the marine base. “Gomu-Gomu no rocket!” He jumped off the ground and his body began to fly towards the window.

 

Zoro watched Luffy’s arms stretch, unable to protest as he was utterly shocked at the strange sight he just saw. As Luffy crashed through the window, marines began to pool into the room. A few punches was all it took to knock out the majority of the marines. _Okay… All I have to do is find that weird blonde guy. He probably knows where Zoro’s swords are._ It took a minute to locate Helmeppo, who began to scream when Luffy dragged him through the halls.

 

Finding Zoro’s swords took more time than expected since Luffy had run past their location multiple times. Once he managed to spot the swords, Luffy dropped his hostage. _There are three swords here. I have no idea which one is the right one. I guess I’ll just grab them all then!_ With the swords in hand, Luffy glanced out of the window next to him. _Oh look! It’s Coby! He’s trying to untie Zoro. There are a bunch of marines down there too. With their guns pointed at Coby and Zoro. Oh. That’s probably not good…_ Luffy secured the swords under his arm and launched himself through his second window of the day. He managed to land between Zoro and Coby just as the marines were given the order to fire. The swords fell to the ground as Luffy spread his arms to cover the pair behind him.

 

“Luffy!” Coby screamed as the bullets were blocked by the body of the lanky teen. Zoro stared in shock, surprised that someone he had just met was willing to put their life on the line for him. Then, Luffy bounced all of the ammo back at the marines. Coby passed out as he watched the events unfold. Zoro was speechless, barely able to believe what was happening.

 

“So, which sword is yours?” Luffy questioned the swordsman after picking the swords back up while looking completely unfazed.

 

“All of them. I practice santoryu. What are you anways?” Zoro managed to reply once he overcame his surprise at the teen not being riddled with holes from the bullets. Luffy grinned.

 

“I'm a rubber man! You know, though, that if I release you and you fight with me against these marines you’ll be a wanted man. You could just let them kill you otherwise…” Luffy trailed off as he glanced at the swordsman. Zoro sighed.

 

“I’m not going to die here. You’ve got yourself a deal. As long as you can untie me, I’ll join your pirate crew!” Grinning, Luffy began working on the knots. He furrowed his brow in concentration. _They tied Zoro up pretty well. This is hard to undo... But I’ll have to do it if I want to save Zoro!_ The marines realized that swords would probably work on the teen who reflected their bullets and were charging straight at the pair. Finally managing to untie the rope from one of Zoro’s arms, Luffy shoved a sword at him. The next second, Zoro had blocked the blades of all the marines who had advanced towards them.

 

“I gave you my word that I’d join your crew, and I won’t go back on it, but I have one condition!” Luffy nodded at Zoro to continue. _As long as he doesn’t want to be captain or eat my meat I’ll agree to it!_ “I made a promise that I will become the world’s greatest swordsman. If you make me abandon my dream for any reason then I’ll personally kill you!”

 

Zoro’s voice was steady. It was slightly darker than it was earlier, but it was the same clear, tree leaf green. _I don’t know who he promised but Zoro wholeheartedly believes he can become the greatest swordsman. A guy with conviction like this? He’s the perfect person to be the first member of my crew!_ Luffy adjusted the straw hat on his head, remembering his own promise with Shanks. Staring straight into Zoro’s eyes, he smiled.

 

“I would expect nothing else from a member of my crew! Any less would bring shame on me as the Pirate King!” Zoro smirked underneath the sword in his mouth. Together, the pair took down the lower ranked marines of the base. Captain Morgan then attacked Luffy without a care for the safety of his men as he accidentally slashed one’s back.

 

Coby was furious but watched as Luffy completely overpowered the marine captain. Before he noticed, Helmeppo had held a gun to his head. Coby was startled for a moment, before steeling his nerves and refusing to make Luffy lose his fight just to save him.

 

“Luffy! I’m fine! So what if they kill me? Just defeat these corrupt marines!” Coby’s voice was the same light pink it was when Luffy first met him, but now it was steady even as his tone was shaky. _I know he’s scared but he’s also ready to die to protect his idea of justice. He’s going to make a good marine._ Luffy looked over to Coby and grinned.

 

“You think you can take things easy and look away from me do you? You’re not going to escape from me alive brat!” Captain Morgan yelled as he swung his axe arm down. Luffy launched his arm straight into Helmeppo’s face, making him drop to the ground. Zoro stood behind Luffy, effortlessly blocking the axe and defeating the corrupt marine captain.

 

Luffy and Zoro headed to the restaurant Rika’s mother worked at to get food. One was a bottomless pit and the other hadn’t eaten in nine days so they were able to consume a fair amount of food. As they ate, Zoro asked what Luffy had planned for them to do next. Luffy swallowed his mouthful and grinned at his first crewmate.

 

“We’re going to head to the Grand Line!” He exclaimed, dead serious.

 

“You’ve gotta be joking! There’s only two of you and you don’t even have a proper boat! If you sail straight into the Grand Line like this then you’re sailing straight to your death!” Coby rebutted.

 

“It makes sense to me. Besides, that’s where I heard the strongest swordsman in the world is right now so I’ll end up there some day,” Zoro nodded as he agreed with Luffy. His green voice looked steady and strong, matching his determination to fulfill his childhood promise. Coby shook his head as he tried to persuade the pirates to reconsider. He hadn’t made any progress before the marines of the island entered the restaurant.

 

While they were thankful for the pirates saving them, they could not allow them to stay on the island. As they left, Luffy goaded Coby to hit him so that the marines would not assume Coby was a pirate. Once they reached their boat, Luffy and Zoro prepared to set sail. They were about to push off of the dock when Coby and the rest of the marines saluted them. All of the marines expressed their gratitude to the pirates for saving their town from the corruption of the marines.

 

“Pirates being thanked by the marines? I never thought I would see the day…” Zoro mumbled as he set sail with his new captain. Luffy laughed and relaxed in the boat, glad that he paid attention to what Zoro’s voice looked like and ready to find more crew members.


	3. Mysterious Nami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy meets Nami, the thief who steals from pirates. Smart as she may be, her plan gets him caught in a trap. Luffy has to overcome a few obstacles before he can even start to think about whether or not to have Nami join his crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I took so long to update. I blame my ability to procrastinate so easily..This chapter is a little longer if that helps. Please let me know what you think!

Zoro yawned and opened his eyes, only to close them in the face of the bright sun. He rubbed his face, looking across their small boat to see his young captain siting on the bow. Luffy was staring out into the expansive ocean before him, not noticing the fact that his first crew member was finally awake.

 

“Oi. Luffy. What’re you doing?” Zoro asked as he adjusted the way he was sitting so his hands acted as a cushion between his head and the side of the boat. Glancing backwards, Luffy gave a small shrug and quickly turned back to the sea before him, seemingly preoccupied with other thoughts. Zoro ignored the strange action in favor of stretching before his stomach growled. Luffy stiffened at the sound but made no attempt to turn to face him.

 

After a quick glance around the boat, Zoro noticed something was missing. It wasn’t something as important as his swords but worrisome nonetheless. It was something simple, easily overlooked until there was a need for it. He scratched his head in confusion and looked at Luffy, who was making his best poker face out towards the ocean.

 

With narrowed eyes, Zoro studied the way Luffy refused to look at him. It took mere moments to connect the dots between Luffy’s behavior and the missing objects. He made a final check around the boat before giving in and questioning the situation. Zoro was dreading the answer he knew he was going to receive, but it was vital that he asked.

 

“Luffy… Where’s all of our food supplies?” This single inquiry, made in a monotonous voice, was all it took to force Luffy to turn around from the bow with an innocent smile.

 

“I forgot about it! I meant to ask Rika’s mom for some food but then those marines came in and we had to leave. Sorry Zoro!” Despite the fact that it was an apology, Luffy was more nonchalant than expected. “But don’t worry! We can just catch some food.”

 

“How are we supposed to do that without any fishing rods? It’s not like food is just going to fall into our laps you know,” Zoro explained, voice not wavering or changing shade from its calm, summery green. _Oh good! I was worried Zoro’d be upset! He’s right though…There’s gotta be some way to get food while we’re in the middle of the ocean._ The pair spent a few moments thinking before noticing a soft flap above them. Their heads jerked up to see a small shape in the sky.

 

“Oh! A bird! We can eat that!” Without waiting for a response from Zoro, Luffy stretched his arms to grab the top of their mast and launched himself towards the bird. “Gomu-Gomu no rocket!”

 

Zoro stared after Luffy in shock for a second before shaking his head and waiting for him to fall back down. Then he heard yelling. Looking up revealed Luffy, hanging from the beak of the bird. Zoro’s mouth fell open as he watched Luffy’s legs swing back and forth in the air.

 

“Ahh! Zoro! Help me! If he drops me now I’ll fall into the sea!” Zoro tried to think of a solution, but there was no way his swords would be able to reach the bird. Before his plan was thought out, the bird started to flap its wings faster and fly away.

 

As Luffy was flown farther from his boat, he held onto the bird’s beak. _If this thing lets go now I’m a goner! I gotta find some land to…well…land on._ Luffy watched the horizon for any sight of an island before grinning from ear to ear. _There we go! Okay. All I have to do now is land there._

 

With max concentration, Luffy pried the bird’s beak open and started to plummet towards the buildings below him. He let out a masculine scream as he fell straight into a house and crashed through the roof. Luffy stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes and hat before looking at the scene before him. In front of him was two men with knifes and an unarmed, orange haired girl.

 

The three people in front of him were staring at him with owl eyes when the girl made a devilish grin. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, but that was enough for Luffy to pay attention to her. _Why is she smiling? It looks like she’s being attacked by these guys. She doesn’t look super strong but maybe she can beat them._ He couldn’t give it too much thought because all of a sudden, the girl was standing right next to him.

 

“Boss! You’re here! I’ll leave these guys to you,” and without another word she was gone. _Boss? Who's that? Me? I don’t even know her! Why would I be her boss? But her voice…_ The orange haired girl had a dark and steady, but strangely colored, voice. Luffy could normally tell what color a voice should be, even if their emotions led it to be dark, but he couldn’t place hers. He couldn’t think of where he had seen the color before. _An animal? No. Maybe it’s the same color as some sort of food...Hmm…I know it’s some sort of tropical fruit but which one is the problem…_ Luffy was thinking so hard he felt steam start to come out of his ears.

 

Before he could figure out what the girl’s voice reminded him of, the two men approached him. Luffy sighed. _I don’t have time for this! I gotta find that girl again! She’s way more interesting than these lame guys._ Luffy overpowered the weak pair and began to turn around when he heard whistling.

 

“Wow! You’re pretty strong, you know? I’m Nami. It would be great if you could help me out a little,” Luffy stared at her, still trying to place her voice. It was unsettling for him to not know what color someone’s voice was, but hers seemed trustworthy enough. Nami took his silence as a signal to continue. “You see, I steal from pirates and the pirate that’s controlling this town, Buggy, has a lot of gold and a map that leads to the Grand Line. How about we work together to get that map from him?”

 

Luffy stopped thinking and stared straight at Nami. He didn’t pay attention to the way her voice began to sway. _Eh? The Grand Line? I definitely have to get that map! That’s where One Piece is, after all!_ Agreeing, the two began to head towards the building that Buggy made into his base.

 

"Can you read maps?" Luffy knew he wasn't suited to be a navigator. If he wanted to get into the Grand Line successfully he would need someone who could read maps.

 

"Of course I can! I'm the best navigator in all of East Blue!" Nami boasted. _She sounds so confident of her skills. She's also trustworthy. I think Nami would make a great navigator!_ “Ah, it's not exactly relevant right now but how did you end up falling from the sky anyways?”

 

“I was with my crew mate and went to catch a bird from the sky when I got stuck in its beak! Then I landed here so I wouldn’t fall in the sea,” Luffy grinned as he kept walking despite the look of disbelief he was getting from the girl.

 

“Right…Well we should make a plan before we get there,” Luffy thought a little before nodding, since he noticed the way Nami’s voice was steady to show her seriousness. “I was thinking…” Nami whispered her plan to him. _I’m not too sure about this plan but she seems pretty trustworthy so far so I guess I’ll go along with it._

 

Nami found some rope and tied Luffy’s arms together so he couldn’t escape. He gave Nami a questioning look, wanting to make sure she was sure about this plan, but relaxed when Nami smiled. The pair walked the rest of the way to the Buggy Pirates’ hideout. When they were in front of the building, they heard a laugh. Nami took a deep breath and continued up to the roof with a tied up Luffy in tow.

 

As they reached their destination, Luffy saw the clown-themed pirate group. He looked around until he settled his gaze on the man with a large, red nose who was seated in the throne-like chair.

 

“Captain Buggy! I came to return the map of the Grand Line and hand over my boss!” Nami exclaimed. Luffy whipped his head towards her with a look of shock. _Wait what? I thought we were here to take the map, not return it!_

 

“Well if it isn’t Nami! You’re turning in your boss? What, was there some sort of internal conflict?” The clown pirate laughed and Luffy glared at him. His voice wasn’t pretty. It looked like tarnished gold, something that was never pure and became discolored over time. His voice was greedy and cold, unforgiving. It seemed like the red-nosed pirate was hiding something. Luffy couldn’t focus on it, however, because a couple members of the crew were trying to shove him into the large cage behind them.

 

Luffy tried to avoid being captured. He couldn’t untie his arms but he squirmed and kicked his legs to fight the enclosing pirates. Some fell or hit their allies and knocked one another down. _This is easy! I’ll be able to knock these guys out in no time-_ Luffy stopped mid-kick when he noticed that Buggy was holding a knife to Nami’s neck.

 

“I see the boss still has some concern for his former thief! Now, if you don’t get in the cage over there you’ll have to watch as I end this poor girl’s life,” Buggy stated with no change in his voice. It never darkened, but there was no waver in his voice to so much as hint at hesitation.

 

A low growl came from Luffy’s throat but he walked towards the metal trap. Stepping inside, he sat down and crossed his legs. _Stupid clown with his stupid nose. Nami may have tricked me but she’s not a bad person! She's my navigator! I’m not gonna let him kill her. I wanna help her and make her voice brighter._ Buggy laughed as his men locked Luffy in the cage.

 

The Buggy Pirates began to celebrate the capture of the straw hatted teen. They pulled out food and alcohol to hold a true pirate party. Luffy huffed in his cell. He was angry that he had to watch all those other pirates eat a ton of meat right in front of him. His glare was still focused on Buggy when the clown made a wicked grin.

 

“Hey Nami! How about I let you join my crew?” Buggy questioned as he walked over to the orange haired girl. She flinched before making a calculating look and smiling.

 

“Sure! I bet I’ll be able to find a lot of treasure if I join you!” Nami’s voice didn’t reflect her enthusiastic tone, but it didn’t become much darker either. It looked defeated and flat yet still proud.

 

“All you have to do is blow up your former boss. After all, I can’t have you betraying me.” Nami’s eyes widened as she stared at Buggy. Her mouth opened and closed, words unable to form in her mind much less be spoken out loud. “Look! I even set everything up for you. Just ignite the fuse and my special Buggy Ball will blast right through him!” The pirate crew all laughed as Nami looked back at Luffy in horror.

 

Luffy looked straight into her eyes, nodding to let her know it would be fine. _I’m a rubber man. Something like a cannon can’t hurt me. It’s fine if that thing hits me._ Nami’s hands shook as she held the matches next to the fuse. _Why isn’t she lighting it? I already told her she could…_ After a few seconds passed, one of Buggy’s crew members grabbed the matches.

 

“Have you never lit a cannon before? Look, all you gotta do is light the match and touch the flame to the fuse,” the man narrated. The fire snaked down the fuse, engulfing it and rolling closer and closer to the cannon. Luffy sat back and got ready to use his ‘Gomu-Gomu no Fusen’ to inflate himself into a balloon. Before he could, Nami grabbed the lit fuse and extinguished it.

 

“What do you think you’re doing girl?” Buggy all but screamed. Nami whipped her head towards the clown.

 

“I refuse to kill someone as easily as you pirates! No one deserves to die at the hands of you self-centered bastards. No one…” She trailed off with a distant look in her eyes. _This is the first time her voice has become almost black since I’ve met her. It did it at the mention of pirates…maybe pirates harmed someone close to her?_

 

“If you aren’t going to light it then I’ll take it as a betrayal and kill you,” Buggy raised his arm and pointed at Nami. The rest of his crew roared and charged at the defenseless girl. She raised her hands to cover her face, bracing for the impact, when a ‘shing’ was heard.

 

“Zoro! You came!” Luffy exclaimed as he watched his swordsman effortlessly block all of the attacks.

 

“You idiot captain. How could you get stuck in a bird and then locked in a cage?” Zoro quickly pushed the men off balance and counterattacked with his swords, effectively knocking the majority of the crew away from him. Buggy approached Zoro with a grin worthy of the Cheshire cat.

 

“How about a duel with me Mr. Pirate Hunter?” Buggy held a small knife as Zoro smirked at his seemingly weak opponent. They both took a stance and Zoro sliced straight through Buggy, cutting him into multiple pieces.

 

As Zoro sheathed his sword, he let out a small grumble to complain about how little of a challenge Buggy was. He turned around and walked towards Luffy, thinking about how to get him out of the cage. Luffy noticed that the opposing crew didn’t particularly care that their captain was killed right before their eyes. _Their captain died right in front of them and their voices are light? They don’t hold a single piece of hate or anger against us? What is wrong with them? How can they act like this!_ Luffy stared at the sliced pieces before noticing one of the hands start to move. Everything clicked together as one of the severed hands grabbed a knife and began to fly towards Zoro.

 

“Devil Fruit! Knife! Duck!” Luffy rushed his explanation, using few words, to try to prevent his first crew mate from being stabbed. Zoro heard Luffy’s panicked tone and turned around, only for the knife to cut a deep gash in his side. He hissed and clamped his hands onto the wound that was gushing blood.

 

Buggy laughed as his body pieces all came together without so much as a scratch. Luffy and Zoro stared at him, slightly creeped out. Being a rubber man might be weird but it was nowhere near as crazy as a guy who could be cut and then put back together. While he was laughing, Buggy’s eyes expressed no humor.

 

“You may have avoided being cut in half but that wound is surely going to make you bleed out! Men, fire the Buggy Ball and kill these three!” Once again, the cannon was lit and marking the inevitable death of the non-clown trio.

 

Zoro rushed towards the cannon and began to push it up and around to face the shocked Buggy Pirates. They panicked as they tried to put out the fuse, but did not have enough time before the Buggy Ball was released and the roof was covered with a cloud of smoke. Grunting, Zoro came back to where Luffy was stuck and began to pick up the cage.

 

“Oi! Zoro! You can’t do that. You’re going to make your wound worse and die! That big-nosed guy cheated. Don’t let your pride injure you any farther. Listen to me!” Luffy tried to reason with Zoro but he was ignored. It took some of work, but with a lot of blood loss and sweat they finally made it down to the street. Zoro breathed heavily as he set the cage down and sat next to it.

 

“Are you boys in need of a little help?” Nami walked over to the pair, swinging a key around her finger. “I picked it up when I went to steal this map back from Buggy.” Luffy grinned and chuckled.

 

“I knew I could count on you Nami! Thanks!” Nami froze for a split second before shaking her head.

 

“Whatever…Here. Open the lock yourself.” She tossed the key between Zoro and Luffy when a dog snatched it and swallowed it.

 

“Hey what do you think you’re doing you dog? I needed that key!” Luffy grabbed the dog by the collar and shook it to try to get it to spit out the key.

 

“What do you think you’re doing to poor Chouchou?” A new voice boomed across the street, causing Luffy to pause his attempts to regain the key. An elderly man dressed in shabby armor was standing next to them. He grabbed Luffy’s hand and forced Luffy to release the dog.

 

 _He seems like a kind man who is just trying to protect this dog._ Luffy watched the man a little before he learned that the man was the mayor of the town whose name was Boodle. Boodle explained how Chouchou was guarding the pet store since it was the only thing he had left of his former owner. Luffy calmly listened to the story, noticing that Boodle wasn’t lying. _If his voice looks this steady he can’t be lying. I knew he was a nice guy!_

 

“I can’t give your friend any medical treatment myself but we do have a doctor staying in our camp a little ways away. I can go get him for your friend here if you want,” Boodle offered as he noticed the small puddle of blood under Zoro.

 

“Nah I’m good. Just let me sleep it off and it’ll be fine.” Zoro stood up and casually walked towards the nearest house with the help of the mayor. _That isn’t the worst injury Zoro’s gotten, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. I don't want Zoro to get hurt a lot, but I'm glad that someone as strong as him is on my crew. Now…How do I get out of this cage?_

 

The ground started to shake around Luffy and Nami. They both looked around to try to find the source of the tremors, but had no success. It felt like an earthquake but sounded like footsteps. It took only a few more thundering steps for the source to come into view. Luffy’s jaw dropped as the lion walked over to them.

 

“I am Mohji the Beast Tamer. I have no business with you so tell me where Roronoa Zoro is before I have Richie eat you.” Luffy stared at the man on the lion with dead eyes. _Is this guy for real? Does he honestly believe that I would tell him? Why on earth would I even think about telling him where Zoro is? Zoro needs his sleep!_ “Fine. I see you plan on not answering me. Well, it doesn’t matter. I’m sure Captain Buggy won’t want to let you leave this island alive anyways. Get him Richie!”

 

At the command, Richie lunged at the cage. His paws crushed the sides while his jaws shattered the top. Luffy narrowly evaded being sliced by the sharp claws and jumped out of the destroyed cage. Before he could celebrate his escape, however, he was knocked backwards and through a few houses by the lion’s paw. Luffy pushed some of the debris off of himself and stood up, staring at the lion through the hole he made in the houses. Then, a thought occurred to him. _Crap…I don’t know where Nami and that mayor are hiding! How am I supposed to protect my navigator if I don’t even know where she is?_ Luffy glanced around to see if he could spot Nami, but it was to no avail.

 

Sighing, Luffy looked back towards the lion to see it attacking the dog who was guarding the store. Mohji had thrown a lit match into the store to set it on fire. Flames quickly swallowed the building, turning everything inside into ashes. Luffy glared at the scene and lowered his hat to cover his eyes. He walked back through the houses to the burning building. With a glance at the dog, Luffy stepped into the flames.

 

Everything was either black or red. Ashes or flames. _This is just like the Gray Terminal that day…No. Don’t think about that. You know what you came in here for. Don’t think about the past and just focus on the future._ Luffy found what he was looking for and left the building. He stood in front of Chouchou and placed a box down in front of the dog.

 

“It’s not much but it was the only thing I could salvage. You fought against that lion with everything you had to guard your treasure. Now let me have a turn.” Chouchou looked at Luffy and barked. His bark looked steady and gave Luffy the confirmation he needed. Luffy stood up and brushed the ashes off of himself before heading in the same direction as Mohji with a steely glare.


	4. Precious Hats

It wasn’t hard to find Mohji. His voice being the light purple it is made it stand out among the brown streets. Not even a minute had passed before Luffy caught up to the beast tamer.

“Hey you!” Mohji turned around and gave the boy in front of him a questioning glance. “What do you think you did to Chouchou?”

“Are you talking about that mutt? I only gave him what he deserved.” Luffy felt his blood boil. He scowled, vision tinting red. No thoughts ran through his mind as he swung his arm back so it would stretch. A quick ‘gomu-gomu pistol’ resounded as Luffy released his arm and it rocketed straight into Mohji’s face. The man fell off his lion, collapsing onto the ground. He was picked up by his lion and carried away.

Luffy walked back to where the mayor, dog, and Nami were. He was still fuming from the behavior of the beast tamer but was more focused on meeting up with the others. As he approached, Nami turned around to face him with an incredulous look.

“You went into that building for an animal you just met? I suppose I owe you an apology…I thought you were like most pirates, cruel and merciless…” Luffy noticed the faint change in her voice, which was now mixed with light blue wisps. _Relief. She knows how terrible some pirates can be first hand._

“Eh…lots of pirates are gross. Most of ‘em like to burn stuff and steal from people.” Luffy crossed his arms behind his head and turned to look at the row of houses that he crashed through. _Eh? Wasn’t Zoro sleeping in one of the houses over there?_ It took a few seconds for him to process that information, but then his jaw dropped. “Ah! Zoro!”

Before he was able to run over to the houses to check on his first crew member, some of the rubble started to shift and an arm shot out of it. A body followed the arm until a certain green haired swordsman was out and brushing dust off of himself.

“That was a good nap. I feel better already,” Zoro said as he yawned. Nami and the mayor gave him looks of bewilderment.

“You feel better? A house just collapsed on you!” Nami shouted as Luffy chuckled. True to his statement, Zoro’s voice actually did seem to look healthier in Luffy’s opinion. It was a more vivid green than it had been before he left to sleep. Zoro and Nami argued a bit more before they noticed Luffy’s thoughtful expression. The former raised his eyebrow to ask a silent question.

Luffy was too focused on the color he saw before him. The mayor was muttering something he couldn’t quite hear but his voice was gradually changing from shaking and concerned to steady and determined.

“That’s it! I can’t let anyone else be hurt! Buggy and his crew have gone too far. We created this town from practically nothing and I can’t stand back and watch it be destroyed. I’m going to end this once and for all.” The pale brown seemed to practically shine with pride as the mayor spoke of his town. He grabbed his spear and ran off with no input from the three standing in front of him. Luffy looked over towards the other two and smiled. Zoro gave a short laugh before nodding.

“What are you guys so happy about? He’s going to challenge Buggy! Buggy is ruthless and won’t hesitate to murder him.” Nami was livid. Red seeped into her voice as she thought these pirates were just the same as the rest. As he tilted his hat to shade his face, Luffy smirked. _Nami doesn’t trust us now, but I can’t wait to see her expression later…_ He followed after the mayor without a word as the other two shared a look.

Once they caught up to the mayor, they realized he was already engaged in conversation with the clown pirate. When they finally got close enough to overhear them, the trio stopped.

“-think you have the right to be here? The right to control this town and ruin it as you see fit? I’m tired of it. I’ll stop you, no matter what I have to do. If it means saving my people I don’t care if I lose my life.” The mayor slammed the bottom of his spear into the ground. Buggy raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips as he found humor in the weak, old man’s challenge.

“Hmm? You think you can stop me?” Buggy laughed and threw his hands into the air. “Try it!” The mayor grasped his spear with both his hands and began to rush towards the building the clown was standing on the roof of when an arm was thrown in front of his chest to stop him. He looked down at the arm and followed it to the straw hatted teen.

“What are you doing, boy? This is none of your business. Get out of my way!” He shoved the arm away from him and began to move forward once again. Suddenly, he felt something, or rather someone, grab the back of his collar and yank him backwards. The next thing he knew, his face was rapidly approaching the ground. The second his face hit the pavement he lost consciousness.

Nami went to yell at Luffy, unable to understand why he was treating the mayor that way, when Zoro interrupted.

“That’s probably for the best. He’d just get killed otherwise.” Nami wanted to refute him, but realized he was right. They were just trying to save the old man. Buggy found great humor in this action, however, and taunted Luffy. His voice looked like it was practically dripping with arrogance. He motioned behind him to get one of his men to fight instead, deeming the other pirate group as nonthreatening. A man on unicycle rode off the roof and came to a stop in front of Zoro

“So you’re the famous Pirate Hunter? You certainly don’t look as intimidating as the papers make you out to be… I guess I’ll just have to beat you and prove it.” Zoro snorted and moved his hands towards his swords. The injury from the dirty move Buggy pulled earlier wasn’t enough to prevent him from fighting this swordsman. With narrowed eyes, Luffy adjusted his hat to shade his face. _That clown thinks he can win without really fighting… I’ll show him… Once Zoro is done with his duel I’ll beat that big red nose up._

Luffy watched with crossed arms as the swordsman, Cabaji they found out, pulled trick after trick. One of Zoro’s eyebrows twitched in irritation. He was at his last straw as Cabaji threw dirt into his eyes and aimed for his wound again.

“Act like a real swordsman already! Are you really that focused on my cut? Let me make it easier for you then!” Without another word, Zoro took one of his swords and slashed at his already bleeding side. Luffy couldn’t help but smile as he watched his crewmate battle. _I knew Zoro would make a good pirate. He’s strong and filled with honor. His voice didn’t even waver when he sliced himself!_

Cabaji stared at the man before him in shock, until he noticed something moving towards Zoro’s feet. A grin spread across his face as he got into an attacking position once again. Zoro mimicked him, eager to end the pointless fight. The swordsmen rushed each other. Luffy’s gaze shifted from focusing on Zoro’s voice to the ground as he saw a stray hand fly past him, ready to grasp Zoro’s ankles and hold him in place.

A low growl of anger escaped his lips as Luffy slammed his foot down on top of the hand next to him. A faint ‘ow’ was heard from the roof as Buggy shook his arm in pain. _I don’t know how he managed to get his hand down here but there’s no way I’m going to let him interfere in this fight! He isn’t a true pirate._ Cabaji wavered as he noticed Luffy holding Buggy’s hand down. Without any hesitation, Zoro took the opening and made a large gash on Cabaji’s body. His opponent was down in seconds. As he looked back at his captain, Zoro yawned.

“Hey Luffy? You got that clown over there?” A swift nod at Buggy was all it took for Luffy to understand the meaning behind his words. _He must be tired. All that blood loss can't be good for him_

“Yeah. You can rest up. I’ll take it from here.” Zoro took the advice and walked a little ways away to avoid getting in the middle of the upcoming fight before he leaned against a building and began to snore. All of Luffy’s attention turned to Buggy as his body split apart and floated down from the roof.

“Just because you beat some of my men doesn’t mean you’ll be able to beat me,” Buggy said while he reassembled his body. “Now, let’s go straw hat!”

“Bring it big nose!” Luffy exclaimed as Buggy finally gathered his body parts together. As his face reddened, Buggy lost his ever present smile.

“Who are you calling big nose!” Suddenly, one of Buggy’s hands shot off of his body with a knife in it. It was on a path straight for Luffy’s face, whose eyes widened a little in surprise, as he jerked his body backwards.

He released a sigh of relief before adjusting the hat on his head and straightening up. _Phew…That was close. I didn’t think he would attack that soon… I guess I really made him mad… His voice did look a little redder than before, but who knew he was that angry? Wait a second…_ He lost his train of thought as he felt the rim of his hat again. It was ripped. The knife that Buggy threw may have missed Luffy’s face but it managed to nick his hat.

He froze and ignored whatever the clown in front of him was talking about. His vision filled with red as he realized he allowed the hat Shanks entrusted him with to get damaged.

“HOW DARE YOU! You damaged my treasure you stupid clown!” Luffy was seething with anger, only to be fueled by Buggy’s laughter.

“That old hat is your treasure? As if! Treasure is gold and jewels, not that idiotic garbage you call a hat. It reminds me of the hat Shanks used to wear…”

“Shanks? You know Shanks? He’s the one who gave me this hat!” Buggy's laughter paused as he heard the words of the teen.

“You mean that hat is the same one that bastard Shanks had? All the more reason to destroy it! If you really value it so much then protect it better!” With those words, Buggy launched his other hand, this one armed with three knifes, towards Luffy. Luffy moved side to side, trying to avoid the flying weapon, as his hat fell off his head. He hastily moved to grab it only to have to jump up the second it was in his hand. Buggy had a wicked smile on his face as he maneuvered his hand to fly back at Luffy and straight into the straw hat in his hand, freezing the fight as a ‘rip’ sounded across the town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am honestly so sorry it took so long to update. I kinda lost my motivation and didn't want to just write a chapter really fast so I could post it. Finally, though, I managed to write something I was proud of. Thank you so much for sticking with Seeing Voices for this long!


	5. Angry Red

No one could move. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion as Luffy raised his hat to eye level. The three cuts in the top of his prized straw hat stared back at him. Behind him, Nami picked up her bag of treasure from where she dropped it on the ground. She saw how mad he got after his hat was nicked, and now there were fairly large gashes right in the middle of it. Anger practically rolled off of the teen in visible waves. Luffy, however, had yet to say anything. His face was blank as he studied the damage made to his hat.

Carefully, he felt the cut with one of his fingers. The movements were slow and gentle in order to not cause more damage. _My hat…Shanks’ hat…I was supposed to protect it from this._ He placed the hat back on his head and cracked his knuckles.

“Stupid red nose. You’re going to regret doing that. Nobody. Touches. The. Hat.” There was no warning as Luffy’s face twisted with his rage. The only color he could see was red. Red noses. Red streets. Red buildings. Everything was the same color as he stretched his arm back. “Gomu-Gomu no pistol!”

Buggy’s eyes widened as he saw the fist coming. Quick thinking and reflexes that came from spending time on the Pirate King’s ship were the only things that saved his face from being mercilessly smashed. With his head floating a few inches above his body, the punch only connected with air.

“Ha! You think you can manage to defeat me? You can’t even land a hit! You’re as weak and useless as Shanks!” Laughter filled the air as the clown began to mock the teen before him. Luffy, however, could not hear anything. He was oblivious to the single color that surrounded him and completely concentrated on pummeling the man in front of him into the ground.

As soon as the punch made it past his opponent’s body, it grabbed a post of the building right behind the overconfident Buggy. Luffy allowed his body to fly in the direction of his stretched hand.

Laughter turned into chuckles and then a gasp of horror as Luffy collided with Buggy’s stomach. Bouncing off the body gave him the space he needed to prepare his next attack. Buggy stopped coughing and separated his body parts to avoid the next punch aimed at his chest. _Ugh. He’s not even that strong but his devil fruit makes it so easy for him to dodge._ Luffy let out a ‘tsk’ of annoyance.

“Oi! Stop messing around and fight me already!” He felt himself getting angrier with every separation. Then, he realized that there was one body part that had yet to be moved. The feet. Throughout the fight, Buggy’s feet had remained planted on the ground. With a smirk, Luffy pulled is arm back for a final punch.

As expected, Buggy separated himself. Luffy’s smirk changed into a grin as he let his arm drop where it was to take hold of the feet on the ground. The red began to fade from his sight until he could see the town how it was supposed to look, along with Buggy’s voice wavering in panic as he noticed his weakness was discovered.

“Let go of my feet Straw Hat!” He began to pull his body back together only to realize he was a lot shorter than he remembered.

“Umm…Aren’t you missing some limbs?” Luffy asked in confusion as he tilted his head to the side. The only parts of Buggy that were in front of him were his head and feet. The clown looked ridiculous, but Luffy was more focused on why the man wasn’t using his powers like he had before. A strangely colored yet soft voice entered his vision and caused Luffy to turn around. He smiled at the sight of his navigator laughing and holding the remaining body parts in place under her foot with a rope.

Once Buggy noticed Nami, he ran towards her. The lack of legs and arms made his ‘run’ look more like a penguin waddle, though. Luffy sent both his hands flying behind him. Before Buggy made it more than a few steps, a ‘Gomu-Gomu no bazooka’ was yelled. His body, or at least what was left of it, was sent through the air accompanied by a high pitched scream. 

Luffy put his hands on his hips and nodded, content with sending the man who damaged his hat flying. He took his hat off his head to study it once more. A sigh of disappointment left his lips before he placed it on his head once again and left to find his crew members.

“That hat is pretty important to you, huh?” Nami asked as she handed Luffy one of the bags of treasure she was carrying.

“Yeah. It’s symbolizes a promise I made with someone. Luckily, it’s not damaged enough that I can’t wear it.” The pair walked back towards the spot Zoro was snoring from.

“You know…I can sow fairly well. I might be able to fix it for you. I can’t promise it’ll be perfect though.” Luffy’s head whipped to face the girl next to him.

“Are you serious? I knew you were the best, Nami!” His eyes practically sparkled with relief as he laughed. They stopped in front of the sleeping swordsman. “Hey, Zoro. Wake up.” Said man grumbled as a set of hands were poking and slapping him lightly on the cheek.

“What? Did you finish your fight already?” Zoro rubbed his eyes and stood up. Luffy nodded. “Where’d that clown pirate go anyways?”

“I don’t know. Probably in the ocean somewhere. I sent him flying. You look healthier now.” Nami stared at Luffy like he was out of his mind. Zoro was still wearing his blood soaked shirt and while his wounds weren’t bleeding anymore he still looked exhausted from the blood loss. Luffy, however, saw it in his voice. Zoro’s green voice had paled during his fight against Cabaji but now it was more vibrant. _Zoro must’ve had a good mystery nap if he’s feeling better already!_ The trio were walking towards their boats when they passed by the knocked out mayor who was surrounded by people. The people were talking and trying to figure out what happened.

“You guys! Who are you? Did you happen to see who did this to our mayor?” One of the men asked as he approached the three teenagers.

“We’re pirates! I knocked him out!” Zoro burst out laughing at the brutal honesty of his captain as Nami punched Luffy on the back of his head.

“You idiot! Why on earth would you say that?!”

“Because it’s true? You were right there when I did it. You even yelled at me like you’re doing now. Jeez, Nami.” Her hand shook as her need to beat some common sense into the oblivious teen rose. The only thing that stopped her was the angry crowd of citizens. Scratch that, the angry mob of citizens. They were armed with spears and staffs as they yelled insults at the pirates.

A second later, they were being chased by the people as they ran towards their boats. Luffy was supporting Zoro as they all came to a halt when they were face to face with Chouchou. The dog moved aside from the middle of the alley he was in so the trio could pass through. Luffy grinned and ran past the dog as Chouchou barked.

“Yep! And you take care too okay?” Before the pirates were even out of the alley, they heard the citizens of the town yelling at the dog to move.

Once they finally reached their boats, Nami threw her bag of treasure into her stolen boat and began to untie it from the dock. Luffy set his bag of treasure on the ground. Three new voices blended together and entered his vision as he turned around and saw three of Buggy’s men holding weapons and standing by the small boat.

“Give us that treasure! You may have managed to steal from us once before but now we’re going to return the favor!” One of the men said as he ran towards them with his sword. _I don’t remember stealing from them. Maybe they have us confused with someone else?_ Zoro stared straight at the man in front of them and glared.

“Who stole from you?” That one sentence was enough to make the three men freeze in their places.

“Ah! We’re terribly sorry Mr. Zoro! We had no idea that orange-haired thief was with you! Excuse us!” As quickly as they appeared, they left. Luffy gave his first mate a questioning look, only to be met with a slight shake of the head. He brushed it off as they climbed into their boat. After all, if it wasn't something his crew mate was worried about then it must not be important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, those three men at the end were the three that Zoro allowed to ride in the boat as he chased after Luffy when he was carried off by the bird. I realize I didn't have to mention them, but the scene of them being scared just looking at Zoro is hilarious. If you have any suggestions, comments, or critiques please share! I am super open to including anything in this story (as long as it makes sense)


	6. Sunflower Yellow

A low growl filled the silence that surrounded the boats. Nami sighed and looked up from the map she was working on.

“I know you’re hungry, Luffy. That’s the only thing you’ve talked about for the past half hour. I get it,” she said as she stretched from having been in the same position for so long. Luffy tilted his head back so he was still sitting cross legged next to Zoro but could look at Nami. “Besides, I already said the next island should be within sight soon.”

The two bickered for a few more minutes, oblivious to the now awoken swordsman. Zoro yawned as he listened to them talk. Right before he closed his eyes to sleep again, he noticed a small dot in the distance.

“Oi. Is that the island you’re talking about?” Nami pulled the small telescope she found about her stolen boat and looked at the horizon.

“Hmm…Looks like it is. That’s the Gecko Islands. Syrup Village is the largest town. We should be able to resupply there before we set sail again. Luffy, how much beri was in the bag you carried?” No response. She looked up from her own sack of beri to meet the confused look of the straw hat wearing teen. Nami rolled her eyes. “The bag of treasure we stole from Buggy? I have one of them with me.”

Luffy tilted his head to the side. _Nami’s voice looks serious…Am I supposed to know what she’s talking about? I had a bag of treasure?_ Finally, a thought crossed his mind.

“Oh yeah! I left it there.”

“You…what?” A tick mark appeared on her forehead. _Now it’s kinda red. Maybe Nami is mad that I didn’t say where I left it. Oops, shishishi!_

“I left it at the dock at the town!” The next thing he knew his neck was being stretched as Nami pulled his face closer to her and shook it.

“You idiot! That was supposed to be the money we used to buy food and other supplies! How could you leave it there! After all the hard work I did to get that…”

“Don’t be sad, Nami! The town needed it more than we do. We can just steal some food if we have to. We are pirates after all.” A dark look crossed her face before she shook her head and gave in, allowing the head she was holding to snap back into place on its owner’s body.

Twenty five minutes later the trio was on the sandy beach of the island stretching their legs. The bushes lining the top of the cliff rustled. Muffled whispers of ‘shut up’ and ‘stop kicking me’ were heard.

“Uhh…You know we can hear you right?” The second Zoro asked his question, three boys jumped up from their hiding spots and sprinted away.

“Oi! Where are you guys going?” The teen left on his own turned around to face the pirates on the beach. “I-I-I am the proud Captain Usopp! I protect this village with the eight million men under my command.” Despite his shaking legs and initial stuttering, Usopp sounded rather confident.

 _Eight million men? That’s awesome! Ah. Wait. Why does his voice look weird?_ Usopp’s voice was a gentle, sunflower yellow. Or at least, that was what Luffy guessed it was. It looked really foggy for some reason. Next to him, Nami rubbed her temples with her hands.

“You can’t be serious. Eight _million_ men? On an island this small? Do you think we’re-” She glanced at Luffy who had stars in his eyes. “-sorry, _I’m_ an idiot?”

“Ack! You knew I was lying?”

“What?! You were lying?” The stars vanished and were replaced with a look of severe disappointment.

“W-Well in any case, I am still a proud man who would do anything to protect my village so you pirates better leave or else.” With that, he pulled out a small slingshot and loaded it with ammo. _It’s not foggy anymore. Now it’s just sorta wavy. Why would he be nervous?_

“Hold on! We aren’t here to hurt anyone. We just want to stock up with some supplies before we set off.” The teen studied the red head before lowering his slingshot ever so slightly.

“…Do you meant that? You really aren’t here to hurt any of the villagers?”

“Of course not! I’m just here to get meat! And maybe a ship…But mostly meat.” Nami whacked Luffy on the back of his head before the trio followed the teen up the slope and into a restaurant. He introduced himself as Usopp as they all sat down and ordered. He had just barely finished his food before he looked at the clock and bolted while shouting that he would find the group later.

Zoro and Nami shared a look before shrugging it off and eating their food before a certain set of rubbery arms grabbed everything. Just when they had finished, three small boys ran up to them shouting about something. They all talked at the same time so none of the pirates quite knew what they wanted.

“Ahh. That was some good food,” Luffy sighed contentedly as he patted his slightly protruding stomach. The boys stared at him in horror.

“What did you do to our captain?” They all yelled in unison. Zoro smirked as Nami covered her mouth and looked away to hide her snickering.

“If you’re looking for your captain...He just got eaten.” All three of the children blanched and screamed.

“R-Relax! He’s just m-messing with you guys,” Nami managed to say through her laughter. Once the boys settled down, they mentioned that their captain, Usopp, might be at the only mansion on the island visiting Kaya. Luffy stared at the voices of the trio. They were all blended together but none of them wavered. They were steady as they talked about how their captain tried to cheer up the lonely Kaya.

All five of them left to find the mansion. Just when Usopp was in sight, Luffy stopped walking. _What is that?_ Usopp’s voice changed. When they were talking before it was yellow. Now it was tinted pink. _The last time I saw a pink one was when I met Coby, but this is different. Why is it only pink when he’s talking to that girl?_ Luffy shook his thoughts away. Thinking too much about this was giving him a headache.

“Luffy, are you even paying attention?” He looked at Zoro and grinned.

“Nope! Not at all!” The swordsman sighed. Another person walked over to the area they were all standing in as Usopp was finishing his latest tall tale.

“I thought I already told you that you were not allowed here.” Luffy stiffened. The sides of his vision was filled with dark, dark yellow as the man talked behind him. _Bad. He’s bad. I don’t know why but every sense I have is telling me not to trust him._

Kaya and the man- Klahadore, the butler- argued for a few moments before he crossed the line. He insulted Usopp’s father. Just for being a pirate. Luffy glared at the man, nodding in approval when Usopp finally punched him. _His voice doesn’t have any of that weird pink anymore. It’s highlighted in red._

As Usopp ran, with claims he would never come back trailing behind him, Luffy shot one more look at the smirking butler before convincing Nami and Zoro to leave. They didn’t need to be around that man any longer. The three kids mentioned that Usopp usually went to the same spot when he was upset about something.

“I’ll be back later.” Without another word, Luffy walked in the direction the kids pointed him towards. It didn’t take long to find the long-nosed teen. They sat in silence, simply watching the waves of the ocean.

“I know punching him didn’t help at all, if anything it just made things worse. But…I just couldn’t help it. How am I supposed to just stand there and listen to him bad mouth my dad?”

“Yeah. That jerk doesn’t even know Yasopp.” Usopp looked over at Luffy in shock.

“You…You know my dad?” Luffy nodded, taking the time to notice how the yellow voice appeared to be vibrating due to its owner’s excitement. He shared a few stories of the infamous sharpshooter. The sun was beginning to set when they decided it would be best for them to head back. Before they could stand up, though, they heard two people talking.

It was Klahadore. He was talking to Jango about killing Kaya. Usopp was muttering curses about how he knew the butler couldn’t be trusted. _It’s red again. Although, I don’t blame him. They’re threatening someone he’s close to. But, I like Usopp. I don’t want them to do anything to hurt him._

“Oi! You can’t do that!” Luffy exclaimed as he stood up from his hiding spot. Klahadore motioned at him and Jango pulled out a disk on a chain. He swung the disk back and forth, saying something about sleeping.

“Luffy! Don’t look at it!” Usopp yelled as he covered his own eyes. _Eh? Don’t look at what? Wait- wasn’t he mad a second ago? Why does his voice look so shaky and wavy? Even the red is lessening._ In his surprise at his friend’s sudden change, Luffy turned towards him.

“What am I not supposed to look at?” Usopp removed his hands from his eyes as he heard a soft thump from below them. The hypnotist put himself to sleep. Luffy shrugged it off and turned to look back at the two men. “Hey, you really shouldn’t sleep there. You’ll catch a cold.”

Klahadore sneered at the sleeping man before kicking him in the side.

“How many times have I told you not to put yourself to sleep? Honestly. You and the rest of them are all so useless.” Jango rubbed his eyes as he stood up, muttering apologies to his captain. “No matter. No one in the village will believe anyone who associates themselves with their local liar, much less anything that comes from the brat himself. Just make sure you’re here on time tomorrow. Got it?”

Jango saluted and ran off. Klahadore looked up at the two standing on top of the cliff. Laughing, he reminded them that there was nothing they could do to get in his way.

“He’s right! Even if I try to warn the villagers they’ll just laugh it off! Even if I _am_ telling the truth there isn’t enough time to convince them! I can’t do anything!” Luffy stared at the pale, waving yellow that filled his sight. He wasn’t about to let his friend handle this all on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It definitely hasn't been 3 months since I updated this. Nope. Thank all y'all lovely readers who stayed with me after such a long break. In the sake of not being too similar to canon, since I know it can get repetitive, I'm going to make a few changes here and there. As always, any sort of comments whether they're good or bad are highly appreciated!


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